Jump on the Band Wagon!

 The Band Wagon

opened in June of 1931,

directed by George S. Kaufman,

music by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz (below),

and starring Adele and Frederick Austerlitz,

better known as Adele and Fred Astaire.

 Band Wagon was a well-reviewed revue!

Somebody somewhere called it

 "arguably the greatest of the 'little' revues of the 1930s".

The cast:

Tilly Losch, Fred and Adele, Frank Morgan, and Helen Broderick.

 Adele, Fred, Tilly, Frank, and Helen (above),

and "Hoops" (yes, that was the name of one of the show's songs!),

with Adele and Fred, below.

Perhaps this song was shelved for the one

Arthur and Howard wrote for the movie:

"Triplets".

 Fred and Adele began their "act" in Vaudeville,

when Adele was 9 years old and Fred, 6!

They danced on 2 wooden wedding cakes,

dressed as bride and groom.

Twelve years later, they debuted in their first Broadway show,

Over The Top,

in which they were reviewed as "one of the prettiest features of the show".

They would perform together for 27 years.

Adele was the outgoing one, Fred the worrier.

(Adele's nickname for her brother was Moaning Minnie!)

Adele would  leave show business

just one year after The Band Wagon

and marry Lord Charles Cavendish. 

She was 36 when she retired,

and was never persuaded to return to the stage,

even when Lord Cavendish passed away and 

she returned to live in the states.

 In 1953,

the movie version of The Band Wagon was released.

Now it had a book! 

And even more songs by Arthur and Howard.

It starred (above) Oscar Levant, Cyd Charisse, Jack Buchanan,

Fred, and Nanette Fabray.

 They kept "I Love Luisa" from the original staged "Wagon",

but kicked "Sweet Music" (below, with Nanette and Oscar)

off the jetty.

Fred was 54 now (32 for the Broadway musical),

and unlike Funny Face (28 for the staged version, 58 for the movie)

he was almost a plausible leading man opposite Cyd.

 From The Will Roger's Follies,

which opened in 1991,

starring Keith Carradine (surrounded above) 

and Dee Hoty...

music Cy Coleman, lyrics Comden and Green.

 Best Musical of 1991,

plus Tony Awards for direction and choreography (Tommy Tune),

score, costumes and lighting.

 Above, a photo from Playbill of "our leads."

(Trivia: I remember Chock Full Of Nuts coffee shops in NYC!

Great date nut bread/cream cheese sandwiches!)

 Dee, above, who would star in another Cy Coleman show

just one year later...City Of Angels.

 What a line up for The Boy Friend,

a Sandy Wilson show

(a send up of the musicals of the 20s and 30s)

imported from the West End.

When it opened on Broadway in 1954,

Julie Andrews (her debut) played Polly.

That's she above on the right,

along with Millicent Martin, Stella Claire, and (I believe) Ann Wakefield.

 Julie received a Theatre World Award 

for her debut,

but had to leave the production 3 months early

to begin rehearsals for My Fair Lady.

 The show inspired a 1971 Ken Russell movie

starring Twiggy and Glenda Jackson!